• “Hello, is this the party to whom I am speaking?”

Do you remember that line? Does it ring a “bell”? Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell in 1847, the inventor of the ::gasp:: telephone! I don’t know about you, but there are many times when I’ve praised the telephone, and many when I wish it hadn’t been invented. But let’s take a quick look at the history – at least as I remember it.

I vaguely remember my phone number when I was growing up. I know it started with “MAdison” – the “MA” being the first two digits of the phone number. Then we went to the straight 7-digit number with the rotary dial phone. (For the younger readers, go ahead and google “rotary dial” if you want a laugh). And, if the phone number had a 7,8, 9 or 0 in it, you had to wait forever for that number to dial. Could you imagine how that would be in today’s rush-rush world? WOW!

Then we “progressed” to the push-button “touch tone” phone, and how much easier it was to use. The phone itself was still bulky, so then someone came up with the “princess phone” – significantly smaller and more manageable. Then came the digital age, and suddenly we were able to transmit documents over the phone with a fax machine. (I wonder if that might be a precursor to teleportation?) Of course, the early fax machines were very slow, but it was certainly quicker and easier than driving somewhere to get something signed. Then cell phones started hitting the market. Remember the “bag phones”? Those wonderful bags that carried the phone’s battery and transmitter and handset? Then came the “Brick phone” that was still pretty sizeable. And then, it hit—the flip phone. “Star Trek” was no longer fiction! What the Captain Kirks of the 1990’s didn’t realize was that, as cool as it was to flip the phone open, the microphone itself was on the main portion of the phone. But is was still neat to use!

Then came PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) that we used to store our contacts on and maybe play a few black-and-white games. I remember looking up a phone number on my PDA, then dialing it from my cell phone. How terribly inconvenient to have to have two devices! Oh, the horror! Then someone got wise and invented the “smart phone” – a device that allows you to play music, play games, take pictures, browse the web, make appointments and check calendars, send text messages (heaven forbid we actually SPEAK to anyone anymore), check news, weather and sports, check airline schedules, look for restaurant reviews, log onto Facebook accounts and more. Heck, mine even acts as a remote control for my home theater system! Oh yes, we can still make phone calls! But we don’t even have to dial anymore! Just tell the phone who you want to call, and the phone calls for you. Be it a Droid, or an iPhone, or any of the others out there, where would we be without them? Oftentimes, I’ve been very tempted to find out, if you know what I mean!

With that said, I hope you know that you’re free to give me a call anytime to discuss any real estate needs you may have. If you’re lucky, my phone will work and I’ll be able to answer your call!